Chapter 14: For Everything A Reason (part 2)
Mary stood in her almost empty apartment. The only things left were what came with the place and a few random boxes of her belongings. She had been carrying a few small things down to the truck, but with everyone there helping out, it didn't take all that long to clear out an apartment.
She strolled over to the window where she looked out to the street. For a moment, she watched as David and Lou carried a chest onto the truck while Phyllis stood talking to the truck driver with Murray stepping off the truck with Ted following him, and most likely, annoying him.
"You think maybe I can get Phyl to give me this place now?" Rhoda asked as she entered the room and interrupted Mary's thoughts.
Mary turned to her. "I think we're almost done here," she flatly stated and then went back to looking out the window.
"Looks like it to me," Rhoda responded. With concern, she walked over to Mary and stood beside her. "How are ya holdin' up?" she questioned.
"Pretty good," Mary replied. There was nothing to really feel anymore. Greg was dead, so there was no more fear or anything from him. She felt a bit guilty over his suicide, but she knew that he would go off the deep end some day. Then there was David, the man whom she thought loved her enough, but couldn't handle the baby. She was going to have to let him go. Staying with him until the baby was born would only make the separation harder when the time came.
Last night, it was all she could think about, whether or not she should break up with David. After everything he had done for her, everything he went through to help her. Should she just let him go? On the other hand, who was she to make him deal with the after affects of another man? The more she thought all of this through, the more she realized how one sided this relationship truly was. He was there, helping her, nursing her back to health and helping her cope with the damage while all she was doing for him was giving him her problems.
"Have you and David talked yet today?" Rhoda inquired. Earlier, she had heard David asking Lou if Mary had talked to him about what happened between them last night. After only hearing Mary's side and knowing David, she felt that Mary should at least talk to him and see what he wanted to do before just leaving him out of her life.
Mary shook her head. "I wanted to wait until later. I did tell him that he could stay at my place tonight so that will give us some time," she explained.
Rhoda smirked. "You don't wanna break up with him," she observed.
Mary turned to her. "Right," she stress-fully responded. "And why is it that you think that?" she questioned.
"Because, you wouldn't be standing here watching him and then inviting him to your place if you really wanted to get rid of him," Rhoda explained.
"It's not that easy," Mary sighed as she went over to the kitchen to grab one of the last boxes.
Rhoda remained in her spot and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry Mare, but I think you really should reconsider all of this. I know that you're having a hard time, but you were doing better when you two were seeing each other all the time," she protested.
Mary sternly looked to her, and then gradually softened her expression. "I know," she breathed out. "But it's not fair to him to keep him in a one sided relationship," Mary argued.
Rhoda considered what she was saying, but still felt that she should rethink all of this. "Don't you think that if he felt that he should leave, that he would have done it by now?" she implored.
"What makes you think that he would have made the choice to leave me? I mean he even stayed with me when he didn't think he could handle a baby," Mary responded.
"That's what I mean!" Rhoda replied as she threw her arms out. "He did everything he could to stay with you! He stayed with you when Greg tried to talk him out of it, when Greg was harassing you, when he knew that you were already knocked up," Rhoda explained.
Mary's shoulders slumped as she began to take in everything that Rhoda told her. She was right. She was starting to think that maybe while trying to be fair to him, she was being unfair by taking everything away from him. "I should go talk to him," she said as she left the room.
"Good!" Rhoda replied as she stood there and watched her leave. She knew that Mary needed him, and that he needed her.
O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Mary walked outside to see a David and Lou talking to each other. She knew that what happened between her and David was no secret anymore. It actually wouldn't have surprised her if it were common knowledge amongst everyone out there. It bothered her a tiny bit, but not so much that it made her uncomfortable. "David?" she called as she walked up behind him. David turned around and Lou peeked over to Mary. "You have a minute?" she requested with a sincere smile.
David nodded. "Yeah, sure," he responded and then followed Mary back towards the house where they could talk without everyone listening. The entire time walking he had resisted the urge to put his arm around her, or even just on her back. The smile had told him that she was okay, but the last thing he wanted to do was make the wrong move.
Mary stopped and turned to him as she brushed her hair back with her hand. "Did you hear about Greg?" she carefully asked.
"What?" he asked. He was a but disappointed, the way that she brought him over there, he thought they were about to talk about them. Instead, they were about to discuss one of his enemies.
Mary placed her hands on her hips and looked down while she let out a small, almost nervous laugh. "He killed himself," she announced lifting her head back up. "I got a letter from him, basically blaming me for his insanity and that I led to his suicide."
David didn't know how to react. Carefully watching her as she looked off to the side, he could see some sort of guilt in her eyes. Last night, he had heard this woman say that she hated Greg. He had been with her when she had felt threatened by this man and had heard her talk about how she wished he had never even met her, and here she was, feeling guilty over his self inflicted death.
It didn't take a genius to know that Mary had a hard time being mean to anyone. He could figure out that her getting any sort of blame on anyone's death would bother her.
"You know that you have nothing to feel guilty about," David stated. He had to break the silence somehow.
Mary turned her head as a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I know," she sighed. "But, its still hard to hear."
"Will you miss him?" David questioned. It could have been the wrong question to ask, but it would certainly get her to start thinking a little differently about the situation.
"No," Mary quickly replied as she shook her head. "The man lied to me, used me, mentally and physically abused me, threatened me, broke into my home, held me hostage and stalked me," Mary listed as she thought back on everything that had happened.
"And he technically cheated on you," David added.
"Right," Mary responded, in a daze.
Lying. Used her. Mental abuse. Physical abuse. Threats. Breaking and entering. Taking hostage. Stalking. Cheating. Not all of them were illegal, but they were all against her. Nine crimes that Greg had committed.
Mary focused her attention back onto David. She wanted to speak, but nothing came from her mouth.
David saw her struggling to speak. "Don't," he requested. "First, I want to tell you something. Even if you don't believe me, no matter what happens, I will be there for you."
Mary nodded. She did believe him. "You know, I could've avoided all of this if I had just taken the time to ask a few questions, see who really gave me the flowers," she mentioned.
"And if I could have just gathered my courage for a single moment," David added.
Mary smiled to him. There was one thing that did come from all of this. Even if it was hard for anyone else to see the bright side, she knew it was there. "Although, I would have never learned how much you cared," she stated.
"One hell of a way to learn," David responded.
Mary shrugged. It was what it was. There was nothing that she could do about the past. Greg was gone now, and she was going to be damned if she were give him the power to continue to ruin her life. "I'm just happy that its done and over with," she softly stated as she looked out over to the side. The only bad effect that he had left on her was the fact that she would no longer be able to easily trust people. In a sense, he had forced her to grow up a bit.
"Well," David said, ending the small silence. "I had better go help finish up. You wanna go out to dinner tonight? My treat," he offered.
Mary smiled to him. "I think I would like that," she said.